Tell Me Why The Caged Bird Sings
by Zimithrus1
Summary: If all men are truly born free, then why does the caged bird sing the most? Cloud feels as though his lilting song is dying with every day that passes in Shinra, with all the constant abuse from his comrades, and the belittling of his very existence. Cloud never knew that when you die in the flames, you are reborn anew. A SOLDIER is all it takes to rekindle the flame of desire.


_Yup, here we are once again. Another story. It just won't stop ^^; Well, this story is about Cloud in his cadet days. I tend to like the CC timeline, even if I leave some of the storyline out. It's just fun to write about Cadet Cloud! Anyhow, story time?_

_Disclaimer: This fanfiction will contain a Yaoi pairing, possible rape, violence, coarse language and some suicidal issues. Just warning you now, so if you don't like it then don't read it, okay? Okay :)  
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_~XChapter 1: Blood, Sweat, and TearsX~_

Cloud's breath was heavy in his chest. Fear and adrenaline was pulsing through his blood and acting as fuel for his fleeting muscles. His legs felt heavy, like a ton of cinderblocks were attached to his ankles. His mind was racing a mile a minute. He screeched to a stop when the hall he was running down stopped right in the middle, splitting off to the left and to the right. The blonde faltered for a moment, but as soon as he heard those heavy and thundering footsteps racing after him, he quickly took a sharp left and barreled down the hall as fast as his heavy legs would allow him to run.

He could hear each panicked breath bounce around in his ears, and he could hear the pounding of his boots against the ground, propelling him with every sprinted step he took. His lungs were burning badly from how sharply he was inhaling through his mouth. It was wearing him out. He took a sharp right and nearly slipped making the turn, but he regained his balance and continued to scamper down the hall as quick as he could. He thought he was going to loose him, but all hope left his eyes when he came face to face with a dead end.

He looked at the wall in defeat and fright. How could he slip up and come up to a dead end? They were going to get him for sure. he quickly looked to his left, then his right. On his right, he saw a door, with the words 'Supply closest' written on them. Cloud wasted no time and flung open the door. He threw himself in and quickly closed the door behind him. It was dark and he couldn't see a thing. He knocked over a broom and tripped over a mop bucket, but he used it to help back himself into a corner and hide.

He gripped his knees and pulled them close to his chest. He closed his eyes tightly and ended up holding his breath. He had never managed to outrun them for this long before. Maybe if he was lucky they would just leave him alone this go round. But Cloud knew he wasn't that lucky. Footsteps ended right by the room that the blonde cadet was hiding in.

"Where did he go?" A voice growled.

"Maybe he got away this time?" Another chimed.

"As if." Another grunted.

The first voice hushed the others, and the doorknob slowly began to turn. Cloud sucked in another breath and held it. His fingernails were digging into his clothed legs, but the material didn't protect against the stinging bite of pain his nails brought.

The door flung open loudly and hit the wall, causing Cloud to release the breath he was holding, so he sucked in another one. He heard hands slap against the wall, searching for something. A lightbulb flickered above for a moment, before fully lighting the small and cramped room. The first one entered the room and looked over. He saw blonde spikes poking out from behind a mop bucket.

"There you are." The voice sang.

Cloud slowly looked up in fear. There he was. Kadaj Auldergast.

"We thought you might have slipped away this time Cloudy, but we knew you'd slip up eventually." The silver haired teen said.

He gripped Cloud's golden blonde spikes in his firm grasp, causing the younger cadet to yelp and wince. Kadaj ripped him up to his feet using his hair alone. It felt as if Cloud's scalp had ben pulled right off his head. When he looked at the silver haired cadet, he had a clump of the blonde's locks in his hands. Kadaj just dumped them to the floor, then seized the frail cadet's muffler. With ease, he tossed him out of the supply closet.

Cloud crashed face first into the tile floor and slid a couple of inches. He didn't get very long to lay there and process what just happened, because he felt arms grab him and pull his arms behind his back. Even without looking, Cloud knew who had him in this hold. It was Loz Auldergast, the youngest of the silverette siblings. Next to him stood Yazoo Auldergast, the middle brother of the clan of three.

Kadaj exited the supply closet and stepped right up to Cloud. He gripped him by the hair again and yanked his head up. The blonde let out another yelp and fought back tears assaulting at his eyes.

"Keep your head up. I want to see you cry while I beat you senseless." The cadet threatened.

With that, he punched Cloud right in the gut, causing afflicted blonde to hunch and try to catch the breath that was forced out of his lungs. As soon as he was able to take one gulp of air, two more punches followed into his gut again, stealing more oxygen from him and then some. Kadaj changed targets and delivered a swift right hook to Cloud's jaw, right below his right ear. He was pleased when he heard a tiny crack following the punch. The blonde cried out in pain and fresh tears rolled down his cheeks.

Kadaj took a step back, then kicked Cloud right in his ribcage. The blonde wheezed all the air that he had managed to catch, right out of his mouth, and while his head was hanging down, the silverette followed up with an uppercut right against Cloud's left eye. With that, Loz let him go, and the blonde cadet slipped to the floor, coughing and trying to breathe properly.

"That will teach him to show us up in training class." Yazoo commented as the three began to walk away.

"Yeah. Maybe this time he's learned his lesson." Loz tossed out.

"I doubt it. Cloudy is very stubborn after all." Kadaj said. Then the took a right and disappeared from Cloud's line of sight.

The frail cadet couldn't stop crying after that. He didn't know what wrong he had done. Those three used to be his friends when they first came to Shinra. They all came from the country, and had a few things in common. At lunch they would eat together, and in their barracks, they would all joke and laugh with one another. But as the training classes began, a rivalry began to separate them.

Kadaj always tried to be the best in the class, the one with the best swordsmanship, the best aim on target practice, and the best at sparring their instructor. The teen tried hard to keep himself at number one. When Cloud began to slowly catch up, that's when the beatings began, and they stopped being friends. They even stopped eating and joking around together. Leaving Cloud to eat by himself at a lonely table for just himself.

The blonde figured if he didn't do as good at training, Kadaj would leave him alone. But that didn't go as planned. His training instructor noticed that change and asked if he would like private lessons so he could catch up. This angered the silver haired cadet, and the beatings got worse. Leading to where he was today, and every other day, crouched in a hallway, sporting a new injury nearly every day.

"Hey. Are you alright?" A new voice asked.

Cloud stopped sobbing and looked up. He saw a cadet that looked just as frail and petite as him. He had white blonde hair that as a moderate length and ended at the collar of his shirt and he had ice blue eyes with a twinge of cobalt blue around his iris. He had few light freckles dotting around his eyes and across the bridge of his nose and his skin was a creamy pale.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Cloud responded, touching the eye that had received the uppercut. He knew it was going to blacken soon.

He saw the cadet lend him a hand. "Do you need help?" He asked. His voice was quiet and wispy, much like Cloud's, only lighter and more squeaky sounding.

The other blonde took the hand that was offered and he was helped up onto his feet. "Thanks." Cloud said.

"You're welcome." The teen said with a soft smile.

"I've never seen you around here before, are you new?" Cloud asked, striking up some conversation.

"Yeah, I just got here today. I was trying to find my unit but I got lost." The teen said with a soft blush as he chuckled nervously.

"It's a big building. The same thing happened to me. What's your unit number?" Cloud asked, trying to be as friendly as possible, even though his new injuries were really pissing him off. That, and the constant throbbing pain that occurred each time he took a breath.

"Um, it's unit thirteen." The white blonde haired cadet said. Cloud smirked.

"That's my unit too. Come on, I'll show you where it is." He said, beginning to lead the way. The other blonde quickly scurried to Cloud's side.

"Thank you so much! You're so kind!" He said with a smile.

"Don't mention it. What's your name?" The older cadet asked.

"Miles. I'm Miles Tucker. What about you?" Miles said and asked.

"Nice to meet you Miles, I'm Cloud, welcome to Shinra." He responded back.

Miles just smiled, very happy to already have a good friend that was in the same unit he was. The two began to talk as they made their way back to the right unit barracks. Miles had told Cloud that he was from Modeoheim, that he was fourteen years old, and that he had come to Shinra to either be a Turk, or a SOLDIER. Cloud had told Miles his back story, that he was from Nebelheim, was fifteen years old, and came to Shinra to be a first class SOLDIER like the great Sephiroth.

"Wow. That's a pretty big goal." Miles said as the other blonde told him his back story.

"Yeah, but I'll get there one day." Cloud said with a smirk as he paused in front of the unit they were both assigned to.

The darker blonde opened the door to find that the barracks were mostly empty, save for a few other cadets enjoying their leisure time. Four of them were playing cards, one was reading, and two other were just chatting.

"Miles, you can have the top bunk on my bed, it's vaccent." Cloud said as he approached his bunk.

"Cool! I love bunk beds!" The younger blonde exclaimed as he quickly scurried up the ladder. He flopped himself down on the mattress to find it wasn't as comfortable as he thought it was going to be.

"You'll get used to that too. These beds aren't the best in the world." The older blonde explained.

"You're tellin' me?" Miles joked with soft laughter.

Cloud joined in. It felt nice to be able to just talk to someone that would give him a chance. No one else in his unit did, and only a few people outside his unit did, but those numbers were very few. Cloud only knew two Turks. He hadn't personally met anyone in SOLDIER, but he would just see them in the halls on occasion. Mostly he would see one with red hair and a red trench coat, or one with black hair that was slicked back, and a large sword strapped to his back. He had yet to meet, or even see, the Great Sephiroth, and Cloud didn't know about any other SOLDIERs.

"So when's supper in this place?" Miles asked as Cloud took a seat on his own bunk.

"Six o' clock." The older blonde said.

"Aw, no food for another two hours!" The younger blonde whined.

After that sentence, the rest of Cloud's unit began to pour in. He was glad that Kadaj, Loz, nor Yazoo were in his unit. Then things would get ugly for sure. They only happened to share training classes and lunch together. But that enough was still hell enough for the blonde. Soon after the last of their unit poured in, so did their instructor.

His name was Freja Roshata. He was tall and muscular, about six"two and one hundred and eighty eight pounds. He had deep emerald green eyes and long black hair pulled back into a tight ponytail that ended in between in shoulder blades. He might look tough and menacing, but deep down he was a very nice and compassionate instructor.

"Nice training you guys did today. I was very impressed, with all of your hard work. But tomorrow, we're shaking up routine. You will get up at six a.m. tomorrow as usual, but you will only be training for an hour. Then, you will all spar against each other. The last few standing will be the lucky ones. After that, the select few that survive the sparring from earlier are going to participate in the annual Battle Royale." Roshata explained.

He began to pace in the room, occasionally stopping to take a breather or glance at a cadet.

"As you all know, the Battle Royale is tough. Infantryman, Turks, and even SOLDIER participate in this event, and the winners of their specified category get to fight against the toughest of the tough, the first class SOLDIERs." Roshata continued. Cloud's eyes were alight. He had been waiting for this for months. He heard about it about four months ago and would train in secret for it. He wanted to go up against a first class so bad se he could prove himself. It was a good way to get noticed, and, it was a keen event for later on SOLDIER recruitment.

But Cloud was going to find out the hard way that some dreams just simply don't come that easy, and that things are only going to get harder the further he goes...  
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_ A/N: Well, there's chapter one! :3 I hope you guys liked it! It will take a few more chapters before the pairing comes in, so just be patient, okay? :) And it seems like things could start getting better for little Cloud, but it's not, sadly :o So I hope you stick with this story until the end!_

_Well, until the next chapter my good readers! :)_


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